Russia shuts its doors to UK officials

MOSCOW/KYIV－Amid escalating tit-for-tat sanctions from Western countries since the conflict began in Ukraine, Russia's Foreign Ministry has said 13 top officials of Britain have been barred from entering Russia, in retaliation for what it calls "unprecedented hostile action by the British government".

"This step was taken as a response to London's unbridled information and political campaign aimed at isolating Russia internationally, creating conditions for containing our country and strangling the domestic economy," the ministry said on Saturday.

The move was taken "in view of the unprecedented hostile action by the British government, in particular the imposition of sanctions against senior Russian officials", the ministry said, adding that it would expand the list soon.

UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson, Deputy Prime Minister and Justice Secretary Dominic Raab, Foreign Secretary Liz Truss, and Defense Secretary Ben Wallace are among those blacklisted.

The entry ban will be expanded soon to more British politicians and parliamentarians who pursue an anti-Russian policy, the ministry said.

The Kremlin has described Johnson as "the most active participant in the race to be anti-Russian".

A week ago, Johnson visited the Ukrainian capital Kyiv, where he and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky praised each other for their collaboration since the conflict began.

"We remain resolute in our support for Ukraine," a British government representative said in response to Moscow's decision to bar Johnson and other British politicians.

In other developments on the diplomatic front, President Vladimir Putin spoke with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud of Saudi Arabia on Saturday, their second call since the conflict in Ukraine broke out. The Saudi Press Agency said the two discussed bilateral relations and "ways of enhancing them in all fields".

The kingdom recently announced $10 million in humanitarian aid for Ukrainian refugees.

The Kremlin said the two also discussed their joint work on an oil output agreement, known as OPEC+.The oil pact has kept a cautious lid on production by major producers, supporting oil prices.

Russia gave holdout Ukrainian soldiers an ultimatum to lay down arms on Sunday in the southeastern port of Mariupol which Moscow said its forces nearly completely controlled in what would be its biggest capture of the nearly two-month conflict.

He said 1,464 Ukrainian service personnel had surrendered during fighting in the city.

Mariupol, a key port city on the Azov Sea, has been the scene of the worst violence in the conflict.

Several hours after the 6:00 am deadline, there was no sign of compliance by Ukrainian fighters holed up in the smoldering Azovstal steelworks overlooking the Azov Sea.

The Ukrainian Defense Ministry said on Friday that its forces were still fighting against Russians in Mariupol after almost seven weeks since the city was besieged.

Dim outlook

Zelensky warned that the elimination of Ukrainian troops in Mariupol would end any talks with Russia.

"The elimination of our troops, of our men (in Mariupol) will put an end to any negotiations," Zelensky told the Ukrayinska Pravda news website.

The peace talks already appeared moribund, having produced little since they began, and Putin said days ago he believed they were at a "dead end".

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees said on Saturday that many of the nearly 5 million people who have fled Ukraine will not have homes to return to, as another 40,000 fled the country in 24 hours.

It is one of the fastest-growing displacement and humanitarian crises ever, the agency said.

However, Ukraine and Russia failed to agree on Sunday on humanitarian convoys for the evacuation of civilians, Ukraine's Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk said on Sunday.

Agencies - Xinhua